History

Ernest A. Finney, Jr. (1931-2017) was South Carolina’s first appointed African-American Supreme Court Justice, since Reconstruction. Born 1931 in Smithfield, Virginia, his mother died when he was an infant. He was reared by his father, Dr. Ernest Finney, Sr., an educator...

Jesse Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina. Living under Jim Crow segregation laws, Jackson was taught to go to the back of the bus and use separate water fountains, practices he says he accepted until the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. He attended the racially...

Matthew J. Perry, was Born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1921. Perry, who excelled academically, attended local segregated schools and started college, at historically black South Carolina State College, located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, studying business. He served...

John Roderick Heller was born in Fair Play, South Carolina. He was a graduate of Clemson College and Emory University Medical School. In 1943, Dr. Heller was appointed chief of the U.S. Public Health Service’s venereal disease division. In 1948, he was named Director of the...

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, William Moultrie (1785-1787) is known for his leadership during the American Revolutionary War. He defended the city of Charleston from British attack in 1776, and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island was named for him. He contributed the...

Peter Horry (1743-1815) was a planter from Georgetown County, South Carolina, who became a politician and leader during the American Revolutionary War. He served at the Battle of Fort Moultrie in 1776 and fought alongside Gen. Francis Marion later in the war. Horry is...

A brief biography of the life of Edward Rutledge, statesman, South Carolina Governor, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Through the use of archival materials, scholar interviews, visits to historic landmarks, and reenactments, this program details the events...

William Jennings Bryan Dorn (1916-2005) was a United States Congressman from Greenwood, South Carolina, known for his work on the GI Bill, Keowee-Toxaway Project, and the creation of Lakes Hartwell, Russell, and Thurmond

Biography of the life of Declaration of Independence signer and noted statesman Thomas Heyward, Jr. Through the use of archival materials, scholar interviews, historic sites, and reenactments, this program details events surrounding Heyward’s life, his role in our country’s...

Biography of the life of Declaration of Independence signer and noted statesman Thomas Lynch, Jr. Through the use of archival materials, scholar interviews, and historical reenactment, this program details the events surrounding Lynch’s life, his role in our country’s war...

Frances Ravenel Smythe Edmunds achieved national recognition as an advocate for historic preservation. She graduated from the College of Charleston in 1939. In 1947, she founded the Historic Charleston Foundation and served as Director. In 1971, she received the Louise...

South Carolina’s role in the Revolutionary War comes to the classroom in new online resources produced by South Carolina ETV in conjunction with the National Park Service, The Self Foundation, and both the local and national chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution...

This past weekend, passionate Revolutionary War Reenactors set up camp in McConnells, South Carolina, despite the certainty of sweltering temperatures and cloudless skies. They came for “Liberty or Death - The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas”, which is a national...

James Louis Petigru (1789-1863) was a lawyer, jurist, and Unionist politician known for his famous quote “South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.” Petigru was born in Flatwoods, South Carolina and served in the South Carolina House of...

Elizabeth O'Neill Verner (1883–1979) was an artist, author and preservationist from Charleston, South Carolina. She was one of the leading figures in the “Charleston Renaissance” movement, which sought to protect the city’s artistic and historic reputation. The South...